Day 61 and no sign of babies yet

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice here. This is my first clutch ever so I know I'm being a little paranoid that I'm doing something wrong. i discovered my eggs on May 4th but I don't know if they were laid that day because I'm a paramedic so I work long shifts and I was gone for 36 hours before I found the eggs. Anyways, so if I'm going by the May 4th date, I'm at day 61 right now and none of the babies have started piping yet. They are all dimpled at this point and that started about a week ago. I've been doing a lot of online research and it seems like I should have seen something at this point. I'm not completely comfortable with cutting them because this is my first clutch. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :))

What temp is incubation...

Temp is 88
Humidity is 90%

Have you used anything to double check the temperature? I know some thermostats/thermometers can be off by several degrees so double checking with an alternate is almost required to predict hatch dates accurately. If the eggs are looking good, and it sounds like they are, I would personally wait for at least one pip before cutting. If you do decide to cut we have several members in the Gainesville area - sure someone could lend you a hand.

I've been using 2 thermostats. One is in the tupperware with the eggs and that one has read 88-89 the whole time and the other one is the digital thermostat of the incubator itself which usually reads 87-88.
I'm just starting to get worried that I won't see any piping at all. At what day should I start to be really concerned?

It is not unusual for some clutches to take longer than others. 61 days is only 3 days later than my observed avg of 58.
Have you candled the eggs? do you see good vein structure? movement? If so, I would say things are fine, and they will come out when they are fully cooked :snake::snake::snake::snake::snake:

I didn't know about candling until I saw it on a forum today and googled it. I'll do that when I get home from work tomorrow. Can I use just a regular flashlight?

You are in scrubs and name is medic. I am no rocket scientist but ill guess you are a nurse. Your best bet is penlights from work :) grab one and candle away.

yup. lights off in the room, and a flashlight. This late in the game, if they are alive, you should see some wiggling in there when you light them up

Any flashlight or other little light that is fairly bright in a fairly concentrated small spot will work. I had good success using the "flash" for the camera of my cell phone. I have a way to turn it on and leave it on to use it as a flashlight. It was a little awkward because of the shape of the cell phone, but it worked.

At this point I would just tell you to candle the eggs, you should be able to see movement inside, looks like shadows really. Once you do that and you see movement then your babies are alive. Just give them a few more days, on day 65 I would cut at least one egg. You usually get dimpling around 2 weeks prior to hatching. I incubate at around 89-91, always get pips on day 55, by 56 they are out and crawling around.

I candled them this morning, I could see lots of veins but I didn't see much movement (if any). :(
If they had somehow all died, I would know it, right??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nocturnalmedic

I candled them this morning, I could see lots of veins but I didn't see much movement (if any). :(
If they had somehow all died, I would know it, right??

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Seeing veins is a good sign. When you candled them, did you kind of poke them around a bit? Not seeing movement isn't all that uncommon. However, you should see a little movement if you poke the egg a bit and stir them up...

If they died, I would think the veins would degrade quickly and be hard to see when candling. I would also think it wouldn't take too long for the eggs to start to degrade...

If you are positive on temp and day..... cut them!

I would cut one but usually the veins will look blown out when they die in the egg.
Also I think you meant thermometer in the egg box, not thermostat.

Candle one in a dark room and take a picture of it without a flash, you should be able to capture the structure so you can post the photo.

So I took the eggs to the local snake store today and they cut the eggs for me (I watched intently so I can do it in the future if need be :P) and confirmed that all 4 babies are alive and well. Within an hour of bringing them back home, one little snakey was poking his head out! Im so excited!!

Kool.. good to hear